The traditional pyrometallurgical lead smelting process has many problems, such as serious environmental pollution, difficult recovery of sulfur in raw materials, high energy consumption and low production efficiency. Since the 1950s, some countries in the world have competed to study the direct lead smelting process to replace the traditional pyrometallurgical lead smelting process. By the 1990s, industrial production or semi-industrial tests have been carried out by KIVCET-CS, QSL, ISA and flash smelting. The common feature of these direct lead smelting methods is that they do not need to undergo separate sintering and roasting treatment, and basically realize self-heating smelting. The flue gas is easy to produce acid, and the degree of environmental pollution is light. From the perspective of development, it is possible to replace the traditional pyrometallurgical lead smelting method.

Lead is very stable in SO2, it hardly interacts with pure CO2, and the corrosion of ordinary water to lead is very slight. Lead is easy to dissolve in nitric acid, borofluoric acid, silicofluoric acid and acetic acid, but difficult to dissolve in sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and hydrofluoric acid at normal temperature. NH4OH solution or dilute NaOH solution with air can slowly dissolve lead. Lead can be dissolved in silver nitrate solution, and other nitrates and chlorides will corrode lead. Sulfates of potassium, sodium, iron, ammonia and potassium carbonate and cyanide solutions have no effect on lead.